Knots. One of man's most
primitive tools. With this tool, you can build almost anything. At Scout
outings and around your house, you have probably tied many knots. Some were
simple, and maybe some were hard. Knots can help you tie a fish hook on your
fishing pole, help you tie down your tent while camping, or help in a
mountain rescue. The point is, knots are important.
This section of our website will help learn a few basic knots you need to
know for rank advancement.

The Bowline is one of the most used loop knots.
At the end of a rope, the bowline forms a strong loop that will not slip or
jam.

Most of the time however, the bowline
is used when ever we have a competition on who can tie it the fastest around
their waist. Which is always fun.

The Square Knot is
probably the best known and most widely used knot. It serves to join the ends
of two ropes, and has the advantage of strength and ease of tying and untying.

It slips or jams only if
pulled around a corner. People use square knots to tie packages and to fasten
towing lines, it is also called the "first aid
knot."

Most people use a variation
of the square knot to tie their shoes. An improperly tied square knot is called
a granny knot. A granny knot may come loose under pressure and should not be
used.

Two Half Hitches are
used to fasten a rope temporarily to a post, hook, or ring.

The Boy Scout book says this
is a good not for tying your tent down, or for tying a clothes line to hang wet
clothes and towels.

This not is usually used
because of it's slip feature. The knot slides with the
greatest of ease, to make the loop bigger or smaller.

The Sheet Bend was a
knot that the sailors used to tie on their ships. They tied the sails together,
which were sheets.

This is a good choice when
tying two ropes together, especially when the ropes are different sizes.

The Taut-line Hitch.
This is a remarkably useful knot; it's adjustable AND trustworthy. Anyone who
uses a tent should know this knot.

It is the best way to adjust
your lines to the tent-poles. It is the most simple of the adjustable knot
family.

The Clove Hitch. This is a very important knot, especially in your
lashings. Make sure you work it up properly; pull lengthwise only at both ends.

If you pull the knot at
different angles, it's likely to become unreliable. If you use it be sure that
both ends are pulled straight out.

The Timber Hitch is
used to attach a rope to a log. This knot tightens under strain, but comes
undone extremely easily when the rope is slack.

So be sure to keep it tight.
The timber hitch is very useful for dragging logs back to the camp fire, or
clearing forest.

The Figure-Eight. This knot is larger, stronger and easier to untie than the
overhand knot.

It does not harm your rope as
much as the overhand knot does. So therefore sailors use this knot in most
cases.

Other than that, there is not
much use for it, other than impressing you board of review.

For More Information About Knots, and How to Tie Them:www.realknots.com
Here it is! Every knot you can think of (yes boys, even the neck tie). This
site also has a TON of knot related links.